The Chinese Ministry of National Defense yesterday expressed regret after the US withdrew an invitation to China to attend a major US-hosted naval drill, saying that closing the door does not promote mutual trust and cooperation.
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, which China has previously attended, is billed as the world’s largest international maritime exercise and is held every two years in Hawaii in June and July.
RIMPAC enabled the two nations’ militaries to directly engage with each other, and was viewed by both as a way to ease tensions and reduce the risk of miscalculation should they meet under less friendly circumstances.
The Pentagon said the withdrawal of the invitation was in response to what it sees as Beijing’s militarization of artificial islands built in the South China Sea.
The US had “ignored the facts and hyped up the so-called ‘militarization’ of the South China Sea,” using it as an excuse to uninvite China, the ministry said in a statement.
“This decision by the United States is not constructive. Closing the door to communication at any time is not conducive toward promoting mutual trust and communication,” it added.
The ministry reiterated that its building of defense facilities on the islands was to protect the nation’s sovereignty and legitimate rights.
“The United States has no right to make irresponsible remarks about this,” it added. “Being invited or not cannot change China’s will to play a role in protecting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and cannot shake China’s firm determination to defend its sovereignty and security interests.”
The Global Times said in an editorial there was no way China could trade its interests in the South China Sea for access to the exercise.
“If the US military increases its activities in the South China Sea, then our side will need to further strengthen its military deployments there,” it said.
China has sovereign rights in the sea and it is not realistic for the US to use this kind of action to try to coerce Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) told a separate briefing.
Lu also said that Beijing has found no clues to explain what happened to a US citizen working at the US consulate in Guangzhou, China, who reportedly experienced “abnormal” sounds and pressure leading to a mild brain injury.
The US embassy in Beijing on Wednesday issued a health alert to Americans living in China in the wake of incident.
China has always safeguarded the security of foreign organizations and personnel of foreign nations, including the US, according to the Vienna Convention, Lu said.
“China has already conducted an earnest investigation and we have also given initial feedback to the US side,” Lu said.
The US Department of State is sending a team to Guangzhou early next week to conduct basic medical evaluations of all consulate employees who request it, department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)